Residents in Sydney’s Northern Beaches have access to recurring collection of expanded polystyrene packaging through the Kimbriki Resource Recovery Centre.
Northern Beaches Council runs monthly collection days for rigid, clean, white and dry EPS used to protect appliances and electronics. Domestic quantities can be delivered free of charge, while contaminated EPS — including material containing food, soil, tape or labels — is excluded to ensure that the collected material can be recycled.
Kimbriki provides the next part of the story.
The resource recovery centre explains that the clean EPS collected through the programme is compacted before being transported to specialised recycling facilities.
From September 2026, Kimbriki also began accepting larger quantities of EPS and XPS through its mixed-waste drop-off point under separate conditions and pricing.
Collection quality and volume reduction
Together, the Council and Kimbriki sources illustrate two practical requirements for EPS recycling.
First, clean source separation helps create a material stream suitable for recycling. Second, compaction reduces the volume of collected EPS before transport, helping address one of the logistical challenges associated with a lightweight material.
The case is local in scale but adds another documented example of EPS collection, compaction and recycling operating in Australia.
Sources
Northern Beaches Council. “Polystyrene Drop-off Collection Day.”
Read the Northern Beaches Council collection information
Kimbriki Resource Recovery Centre. “Learn Why Polystyrene (EPS) Recycling Is Important.”
Read Kimbriki’s EPS recycling information
Kimbriki Resource Recovery Centre. “Recycling.”
See Kimbriki’s current recycling arrangements
